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Greg Maddux to retire on Monday: Maddux has been my favorite pitcher of the last 20 years. He never had dominating stuff in the traditional sense, but he was just so dang smart in choosing his pitches that he could oftentimes seem unhittable. I will miss seeing him against my Rockies in the NL West.

Karma is the key for Rockies play-in to playoffs: The gods smiled on this one. The Rockies had to win 13 out of 14 just to get to this game. They won it in the bottom of the 13th by scoring three runs against the most successful closer in the history of the game. The winning run came on a controversial play at the plate. Of course it was scored by Matt Holliday, who just moments before got RBI #137, allowing him to claim the RBI title from Ryan Howard. Some think he's the MVP, and if he wasn't in that game (and the whole month of September), when the team needed him most, then the term has no meaning. Holliday could've been the goat after misplaying a fly ball that allowed the Pads to tie it up in the 8th. Pads fans no doubt are unhappy with how the play at the plate was called, but maybe it makes up the for home-run-no-it's-a-double that was taken from Brad Hawpe, the third time THIS MONTH(!) the Rox were robbed of a home run by a bad call.

Recent Comments

Can the Yankees Be Stopped?

The point of large payrolls is not that they buy success, it's that they buy off mistakes. A few years ago the Rockies made some major big-money mistakes in free agency, overpaying Denny Neagle and Mike Hampton. It took 4-5 years for them to recover from that financially. If the Yankees or Mets or BoSox make the same mistake, no big whup.

Jordan's Night to Remember Turns Petty

My recollection during his career was that MJ was known for being (much like Tiger Woods) too plain-vanilla in his comments and not speaking out enough except for trash talking on the court (and what NBA player doesn't do that)?

The fact that he chose David Thompson to introduce him says a lot to me. Thompson went to NC State.

I lived in Chicago from his rookie year through the second retirement and feel really lucky I got to experience that. That said, on a numbers basis and in terms of impact on the game, I still have to give it to Wilt. Jordan was one of the greatest ever, but part of the reason he is considered as such is the he's The Most Famous Ever, which is a reflection of how far Bird and Magic took NBA from being an also-ran to a platform for greatness.

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

Broncos won in a miracle finish after a yawner of a game, and only after Orton practically gave it away. Meanwhile Cutler was just awful in GB. I still would take JC over Orton any day, but sometimes schadenfreude is all you have.

Nuggets Take One from Lakers in LA

Exciting game, and especially impressive that they came back from 14 down. In the past the game would've been over by mid-3rd quarter.

As a long-suffering Nuggets fans I still think the Lakers have the edge over seven games. But one very heartening stat to me is that the Nuggets' three playoff losses have been by a total of six points, all on the road. By contrast, all their home wins have been double digits.

Broncos Fire Shanahan After 14 Seasons

Howard_T is right - Shanahan's a great game-day coach. The problem is he's a very average GM. His personnel choices have generally been unproductive with a few exceptions like Cutler. Many of his free agent moves in particular have been disasters.

The defense has been flat-out terrible for the last few years. This season's collapse was a disappointment, but everyone here in Denver knew they would get worked in the playoffs anyway. Especially if they played Indy, who's had the Broncos' number for years.

Greg Maddux to retire on Monday

I wouldn't say he's been a great pitcher the last few years, but he was a solid contributor at the back end of the rotation. He won (yet another) Gold Glove in '07, which kinda sorta made up for his inability to hold runners on first.

12 Athletes Leaving Brains to Concussion Study

I love football, but every now and then when watching I pretend I'm from another non-football country (that is, pretty much the rest of the world) and wonder what I would think of a sport that requires players to essentially put on armor and pound the hell out of each other. I guess you could argue hockey is the same, but something about the enormity of the players and the size of the pads makes it stand out.

Of course, boxing is even worse, at least wrt to head injuries. So even though I'm a fan of Ali and loved "When We Were Kings," I would have no problem with a ban on the sport.

It would kill me to give up football...

Someone mentioned Earl Campbell - as a Broncos fan I worry that Brandon Marshall will end up that way. He's a receiver, so he doesn't get as many touches, but after the catch he is a beast that takes 4 guys to bring down. He never, ever gives up, even when it's probably better for his long term health. Reminds me of Campbell.

Questionable Call

One last comment then I'm out. The really strange thing about all this is the discussion in Denver is all about the blown call and the two-point conversion. IMO Cutler should be getting some heat too.

I'm a Cutler fan and think he has all the skills to lead the Broncos to a Super Bowl (though probably not this year), but making two goal line turnovers is inexcusable. His passer rating for the game was 109.6, it surely would've been sub-100 if that call gets made correctly.

Questionable Call

Quick follow-up: I listened to the main sports station this morning and the consensus among the hosts and the fans was generally that the Chargers got hosed, though no one is crying about it.

There was a lively discussion as to whether NFL referees should be full time like in other sports. The best argument for it was that FT refs would get to come to practices and see schemes and plays, though I don't know if that would've made a difference in this case. (And it leads to me wonder if it would bias refs even further if they got to know the athletes a little better.)

Here's a cartoon from today's sports section of the Rocky Mountain News.

Questionable Call

Broncos fan here. I'm glad of the final score, but that was a terrible call. No doubt the Chargers should've won.

Re: the two-point conversion - I think Shanahan had no faith in the defense today (for good reason) and didn't want to risk a coin flip. The Chargers were moving the ball at will, but so were the Bronco save two three & outs in the 3rd quarter. Also they'd been perfect in red zone touchdowns until Cutler's interception, so he must've had a lot of confidence they would punch it in.

If it failed he would've caught some heat, but I suspect a lot of Broncos fans feel as I do that the final touchdown was a gift. So he was playing with house money anyway.

Battle of Powerhouses, Ohio State embarrassed

I don't follow college football super closely, so feel free to take potshots at my opinion. That said, I've long thought that Ohio State and the Big Ten in general are both overrated (and I went to a Big Ten school).